The Elizabethan Era
by OfMiceAndMen
Summary: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo. Splinter flipped through the pages staring intently at each word trying to find a name for the young female turtle, his daughter. Frustration grew as he neared the end where he found the image of a pale and sickly woman who stared at him as though she had been waiting forever for him to discover her. Elizabeth
1. Prolouge

_Seventeen years ago…._

* * *

A single rat crawled onto the streets of New York City.

It was a normal day for Splinter as he casually looked for scraps on the sidewalk. The occasional squealing of a woman or the teasing of feral cats were things that he had experienced almost every day. So when the screeching of tires caught his attention he was immediately drawn to the action.

It was a large armored van that was swerving to avoid…Splinter stood on his hind legs to get a better look…a blind man that had wandered into the crosswalk. It was different than his usual routine and he was grateful for the small excitement since his life in the sewers provided hardly any. The truck seemed to have avoided hitting anything else besides a small pile of trash after someone had heroically moved the blind man out of harm's way. He was about to turn away when suddenly one of the doors to the van swung open and a small shiny cylinder flew out.

It arched through the air and found its mark on the head of a small boy that held a clear jar in his hands. The child shrieked in pain as his hands dropped the jar in surprise. It fell through the air and landed in the water that still flowed from the day's earlier rainstorm. From there it was carried down the street and found its way into one of the rain gutters disappearing from Splinter's sight.

He looked back at the boy who was now surrounded by concerned adults and saw that he had given no care for whatever it was that was inside of the jar. So Splinter decided to investigate.

Crossing the street was rather troublesome but after years of trial and error, he managed to reach the storm drain without injury. He peeked inside and found that there was a safe path down the wall before he entered. His eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness from the bright sunlight he had just left as he scanned the water for the glass jar and at first he only saw shards of it beside the flowing water.

When he reached the ground he saw what remained of the glass jar and the cylinder that had flown out of the van. He saw their contents spilled onto the ground, green glowing ooze and five baby turtles.

The poor things were completely covered and seemed to be just as shocked as he as he edged his way closer. The ooze was cold under his paws as he examined each turtle with speculation. They would surely die if he left them there; they were much too young to be out on their own in this harsh environment.

Splinter took a look around and saw an empty coffee can lying on its side. He scampered over quickly and pulled it back. And one by one, he ushered them inside so he could take them home to his burrow.

* * *

The turtles were sound asleep when he approached the burrow with the can carefully dragging behind him. Exhausted by the trip, Splinter barely found the strength to carry them all into the abandoned drain pipe that hadn't been used in over a decade. With the last one's shell clasped gently between his teeth he ended up fast asleep the minute he stepped into his home.

It wasn't until he felt movement between his teeth that he woke from his deep slumber. The turtle that had been in his mouth had moved over to where the other four had been grouped up but there was something different about them. Splinter rose to his feet only to hit his head on the ceiling of his burrow. The shock of it sent waves of surprise and confusion through him as he looked down at himself and then back to the turtles. They had doubled in size!

* * *

Weeks had gone by and the six of them had both grown in physique and mental capabilities. They were all walking on two legs and had found a more appropriate and suitable home for their ever growing states. Although it was difficult most days to find enough food for the six of them, Splinter enjoyed his time alone ever since the turtle children had begun to speak.

Of course, it was a shock at first to hear them utter his name mere hours after he had first spoke his first few words but now, it had become quite an irritation. The youngest, or so he believed, would refuse to be quiet for a single moment and kept saying bizarre things like, cowabunga. The other four were much more willing to cooperate with his requests but at times they too would be less manageable. They enjoyed the sounds of their voices too much for Splinter's liking and he found his time alone to be suitable for meditation.

He pondered many things as he searched piles of trash and he found that most of his thoughts were of the children. His first intention was to care for them until they had grown enough to fend for themselves but they had managed to steal his heart with their cheekiness and innocence. There was one that had called him dad before they had gone to bed last night and the warmth that he felt was addicting. That little turtle was special, not only because she was the only female but because she had been the first to acknowledge that they were a family, and that he was their father.

He was determined to bring back something special for them this night as he picked up his pace before the light faded away. His search brought him to a dead end and a ladder headed for the surface. The idea was tempting for him to climb and to search the streets but in his current form it was too much of a risk. He was the size of a human toddler now and if he were to be seen by the humans, he would never see his family again.

His stomach growled as he scuttled down the way he came which forced him to stop and take another look back at the ladder. Just this once couldn't hurt.

* * *

The entire surface run took less than five minutes as he swiftly exited the manhole cover and found a dark alleyway with three full dumpsters. He couldn't believe his luck as he scampered over and with the first look found half of a pizza that had been thrown away accidentally. With it under his arm he silently made his way back to the manhole where his eyes came across the tattered remains of a book.

He loved books.

With his other paw he snatched it from the ground and disappeared into the darkness of the sewer.

He flipped through its pages and marveled at the beautiful pictures that it contained and could only wonder why someone would have thrown this out. Below the pictures were words that he struggled to read as he walked along with the pizza tucked under his arm securely. A few of the words had been smudged away and his reading level was still rather low.

_"__Leonardo Da Vinci….The Last Supper."_

Leonardo…

Splinter liked the name.

_"__Saint Ge….and the Drag…by Raphael."_

He paused from his studies to climb down a grate to get to the lower level before continuing.

_"__The Statue of Da…by __Donato…Betto Bardi__or better known as Donatello."_

He turned the page.

_"__Famous for the Sistine Chapel…..Michelangelo."_

Four artists from the Re…Renn…Renaissance? Four names for the male turtles. His sons.

But what of a woman? Didn't the…Renaissance have women? He flipped through the pages staring intently at each word trying to find a name for the young female turtle, his daughter.

Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo.

Frustration built inside of him as he turned page after page in his hands when finally on the last page where the book had ended he found a picture of a woman. A very pale and sickly woman with a strange collar sitting boldly in the painting staring at him as though she had been waiting for him to discover her.

_"__The Italian Renaissance came to an end but the English Renaissance, under Queen Elizabeth…"_

Splinter couldn't help but smile back at the woman whose expression hadn't changed in the past few seconds.

Elizabeth.

* * *

**If you have made it this far in the story then I truly appreciate your time! **

**This fanfiction of mine is going to be based around the 2003 cartoons except it'll be a little different from those. So you know how they were sent to different dimensions and such? Well this is a dimension where things are just about the same except...The little boy had decided to get five turtles instead of four in which the fifth turned out to be a female. And just because of that choice Elizabeth had come into being and thereby the world is different. But not to fret! I'm going to be following a few storylines from the cartoon so that it all goes along swimmingly! If you want to follow along, that's fine.**

**I really tried sticking to the Renaissance Era for the name for her and since I couldn't find an Italian name that I liked I moved on past Italy and to the rest of Europe and Queen Elizabeth came up! Which I thought was fantastic because I think that she is amazing!**

**This is a little prologue to the main event so don't think it's over yet! More to come!**

**Leave me know what you think of my mad genius plan in the box below!**


	2. Chapter 1: Things Change

**_Alright so I told you there are reasons why you don't post the first draft...so I updated it with the second...sorry about that. There's a few little different things so maybe you should re-read it...or not...your choice..it got a whole lot longer..._**

* * *

_Present day….._

Splinter sat upon the ground, his legs were crossed and his eyes were closed, a small burning candle was in his hand. The years ran through his head like a fond memory as he awaited his children's attempts to extinguish the flame without being seen. They all had come such a long way since the day he had found the Renaissance book all those years ago.

His children were his pride and all he cared for in this world so he took it upon himself to teach them what his 'father' Hamato Yoshi had taught him.

Donatello approached first.

His movements, silent to the untrained ear as he spun his bo-staff, rushed towards Splinter. But too keen was Splinter's hearing as he easily dodged his attack. With a flick of Splinters hand and a twitch of his tail, Donatello went soaring through the air and landed in a heap beside the weapons rack.

"Too noisy, Donatello."

The noise of Donatello's movements had no time to fade to silence before the spinning sounds of Michelangelo's weapons broke into the air. He was a little louder than Donatello which made it easier to strike with a few well timed movements by the teacher. His attempt was also thwarted as he flew through the air to where Donatello was still recovering.

"Too clumsy, Michelangelo."

Silence had a chance to fall as Splinter concentrated on listening to anything that could break its spell.

The dripping of the pipes above him.

The heavy breathing of his two defeated children.

The echoes of the subway that roared through the tunnels.

Then there it was! A footstep.

He shifted as he heard a hard grunt from his temperamental son as he flew over his head. The flame continued to glow in the darkness as his landing quietly echoed through their home.

There was another footstep, closer this time, that approached and the sound of rushing air. The blunt end of his daughter's weapon, the naginata, swiftly sliced the air beside the flame that seemed to suck the oxygen from it for a split second before she threw another series of swings. Splinter dodged them expertly as the flame came back to life.

Elizabeth suddenly moved back to the shadows as Raphael came back for a second attempt.

Splinter timed his approach and stuck out his walking stick at the last possible moment. His son didn't see the movement and quickly found himself flying through the air and landing on top of his siblings.

"Poor choice, Raphael."

But he could hear his daughter's soft grunt as she pushed off from the shadows and took a long swipe with her blade towards the candle. The same result occurred as the flame flickered but came back to life. She leaped over him trying to get to the candle.

"Not fast enough, Elizabeth."

He snapped his tail at where she was in midair and it wrapped around her ankle. With a quick jerk, he managed to pull it out from under her and she went crashing to the ground on the opposite side of the room. She moaned as she slammed against the wall and cursed under her breath.

Splinter watched her carefully but didn't notice the sudden movement from above him. He only heard the swiping of blades coming from the side of him and when he looked he saw the candle had been cut in half. The flame had jumped from his hand to the top of a katana that reflected the light of the flame to reveal his last child, Leonardo.

Everyone could see the smirk on his face before he arrogantly blew it out. It sent waves of anger and jealousy through Raphael and Elizabeth as Splinter flipped the power switch back on with his walking stick.

"Well done Leonardo." The room flooded with light as the remaining four turtles got back to their feet.

"Teachers pet!" Raph spat as Leo tossed him what remained of the candle.

"Ninja dropout!" he countered.

"Cheater," Elizabeth added under her breath as she slid her weapon into its sheath on her back.

"My children!" Splinter snapped bringing them all to silence.

"Oh my children," he whispered as he put his hand to his forehead and shook his head, "In order for you to become true ninja you must work harder." Elizabeth groaned inwardly as she followed her brother's examples and knelt in a semi-circle around their master. She looked down at the ground and tried keeping her hands relaxed as she silently reminded herself that she was technically the last one standing. Leo had just come in when Master Splinter was distracted.

She was working hard. She had more to prove than her brothers.

"Your path in life will not be an easy one," Splinter reminded them as Elizabeth brought her thoughts to a stop, "The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five, are different in ways that the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive, you must master these skills I teach you. The ninjitsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become kage, shadow warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world." The tension in the room was obvious as Elizabeth took a small glance towards her brothers. Three of them were staring up at Splinter same as she, but Mikey seemed to be staring at the fly that had been buzzing around them the past minute.

When he raised his hands from his lap, she cringed.

But he never got the chance to execute the insect.

"What is…that noise?" Splinter stated as a small rumbling came from the walls around them. It grew louder as the five siblings rose to their feet.

"Whoa!" Mikey exclaimed, "Earthquake."

"An earthquake in New York, possible, but not likely," Donnie stated as his four sibilings took a step backwards. He was caught off guard when a piece of their supporting beams suddenly fell through the air and narrowly missed him.

"We can speculate what it is when it's over, if we're still alive," Elizabeth snapped as one of the walls farthest from them imploded. At first the dust and rubble made them unable to see what had just entered their lair but the sounds of mechanical parts whirring echoed through the walls.

Out of the dust came small robots with large heads standing on two strong legs.

"What are those things?" Leo asked as the machines approached.

"New York City cockroaches?" Mikey joked.

"Whatever they are! They picked the wrong party to crash!" Raphael exclaimed as he pulled his sai from his belt and charged headfirst into the scene.

His brothers followed suit as Elizabeth stayed behind with Splinter as more and more began pouring out from that hole in the wall. Their numbers began to overwhelm them as stragglers began dodging her brothers attacks and approaching her and Splinter. She stepped forward, pulling her nagitata from her back and smashed their craniums rather easily before they could get any closer to Splinter.

But they just kept coming.

Six more had appeared from the two she had just destroyed and she struggled to dispatch them as loud gnawing sounds began coming from the support beam beside her. She took a small glance at it and saw at least three machines chewing away at it.

"Donnie!" she shouted as she sliced through another head, "The tunnel isn't going to hold!"

"Guys, we've gotta get back to Splinter!" Leo shouted as he looked up from his most recent victim, having not heard what his sister had just said. There were at least half a dozen little robots surrounding Splinter, who was getting besieged against the farthest wall.

Elizabeth ran towards him and leaped up to a bar on the ceiling, which Raphael commonly used to work out with, and swung over the robots back to her position at her father's side. She spun around quickly and stabbed one through the neck and decapitated it before it could take a piece of her leg.

She looked up from her opponents and could see that the support beam had been weakened to the point that there was no way that the ceiling was going to hold in that area. The weight of the tunnels above it would fall down on top of them if any more beams were damaged.

There was a crack that could be heard above the commotion in the room that got her attention.

It was too late.

"Stay back!" she shouted to her brothers as a large piece of the ceiling fell onto the ground beside her. Without thinking she turned to Splinter and tackled him as more of the ceiling caved down around them.

"Look out!" Leo's voice was prominent through the rumbling as she curled over her father, praying that her shell would be strong enough to keep off anything that would smash them.

Her brother's shouts were drowned out by the roar of the falling debris that slammed and thudded against her back. Dust was everywhere, in her eyes, behind her bandana, and in her mouth as she tightened herself around her father who hadn't moved since being tackled.

Then silence.

The two of them laid on the hard ground for a moment as she tried to catch her breath from the adrenaline that continued to pump through her veins. They were surrounded by darkness that seemed to have already swallowed them whole.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she began moving a piece of debris from her legs so that she could stand. There was a dull ache that pulsed through them as she slowly got to her feet feeling her body groaning to comply.

"I'm fine," Splinter coughed as she removed her bandana and wiped the dust from her face. Actually his head pounded and his ears were still ringing from the loud roar of their home collapsing. Her sudden movements weren't good for his frail body but he commemorated her on her quick thinking.

He groaned as another loud ring added to what he heard and it took him a moment to realize that it was coming from within his robes. He fumbled around in his dusty clothes and pulled out the device that Donatello had given him that he still struggled to understand. He shakily played with it for a few moments until the light came on and sent pain through his eyeballs.

"Which button do you press to answer this thing?" he said as he began pushing them in a random order, "Hello? Hello. Stupid device."

"Let me see it," Elizabeth insisted as her hand finally wrapped around the familiar wood of his staff. They exchanged the items and she pushed the speaker button.

"Hello? Master Splinter?" It was Donnie.

"We're both fine a few scrapes and cuts but we're no better off than you I'm sure. Is everyone there?"

"Liz?" he exclaimed in surprise, "Thank heaven! We thought you had been crushed!" She rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Some faith you have in me," she replied snidely, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah we're fine," a second voice answered. It was Raph.

"Whatever those mechanical menaces were, they have eaten through the support structure of our home," Splinter added, "We must leave right away before they return. Meet us at the old drainage junction at south point."

"The old drainage junction?" Leo's voice chimed in as the sound of rustling paper came through the speaker, "Right there. Alright we'll meet you there."

"Stay out of trouble," Elizabeth tried to add before the phone went dead. She pinched her lips in irritation as she compressed the phone back down and handed it to Splinter.

"We should get going," he stated as he slipped it back into his robes. His walking stick began its periodic tapping on the floor as his daughter reached to the ground to uncover her weapon from the debris.

When it was loose enough to pull out she took a final glance around the room at all the destruction.

She was hesitant to leave.

This is where she learned to walk.

Where she made her first drawing of her family.

Where she won her first sparring match against her brothers.

Burnt her first batch of cookies in the oven.

And where Splinter had given her the weapon that was now strapped to her back, the naginata.

This place had been her home for as long as she could remember and silently hoped that Donatello would be able to find a way to salvage it.

"Come now child," he said as the soft tapping of his walking stick began again, "We still have a long journey ahead of us."

* * *

They traveled along in silence, neither wanting to take a break and to get to the drainage junction as fast as possible. Mechanical marching echoed through the tunnels but nothing appeared or attacked. It was strangely ominous as the sounds came and went as though they were passing by, invisible to their eyes. It was unnerving to the both of them.

"I hope that your brothers are waiting for us there," Splinter stated hoping to put his daughter at ease.

She didn't reply.

Out of all his children, she was definitely the most difficult to read.

Splinter was not familiar with women. Of course he had seen many different sides of them on the television but none seemed to be the same as his daughter. Elizabeth confused him as much as she did to her siblings. She could say one thing but mean something different and there were always hidden meanings in her words. She could be having a mental breakdown inside but she could hide it as though it were nothing. He couldn't help but be constantly worried about it.

She was more loyal to her brother's namesakes rather than her own. Where Donatello was the tech-savvy son and Mikey was the fun loving teen, his little girl was the artist of the family. Before their home was demolished the evidence of it could be seen everywhere in the lair, from the kitchen to the dojo.

And he loved it all.

At least until she hit the early teens.

From the day that they had been 'born' she was never alone by force, it was always her choice, and during that time, it was all she wanted. And when she was alone she became cold, unrelenting with her words and especially with her art. The princesses and dragons of her youth turned to shadows and swirling darkness. Her flowers and gardens turned to thorns and death.

It was disturbing.

"I'm not worried," she stated, "They'll be there." She began climbing a small mound of rubble that had been created by the robotic menaces before they attacked their home. She turned and offered her hand to him as he began climbing the pile.

"I'm alright," he insisted as he carefully jumped down from a large cement block to her side. Her words didn't give him much comfort as they continued down the tunnel. The past few months had seemed like déjà vu of events that had happened merely two years ago. She was closing up from her brothers and always wanted to be alone.

It terrified him to think that she might be going back down the path that he had tried so hard to pull her from. It took the combined efforts of the whole family to revive her spirit when that depression hit and with the way their relationship had become…he doubted that they could do it again.

"The drainage junction is just up ahead," Elizabeth stated as she pulled her weapon from where she had sheathed it, "and I don't hear anything."

They walked into the soft light that came from years old fluorescent lights that flickered ominously. Old pipes stretched into the ceiling and disappeared through one of the six walls. One had already been eaten through and spider's webs could be seen covering the openings. Water dripped from the others that were above them with a consistent beat. Their shadows stretched along the walls and gave them both uneasiness.

Tap, tap, tap.

There was no one to be seen.

"They're not here," she pointed out as she worked her way to the other entrance where it was possible for them to come through.

"I can see that," Splinter replied as he did his own scan of the area, "but perhaps it is a good thing."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she turned back to him. Her heart took an excess beat and she held her breath for a moment.

"We can talk without being overheard," he stated as he put both hands on his walking stick and gave her his familiar concerned stare, "I can sense that you are distracted."

"Sensei!" she groaned, "I'm fine!"

No she wasn't. Guilt was eating her up inside ever since she got the results from that test. She knew what that guilt was doing to her. She was hitting that low point all over again even though she fought so hard against it. And fought so hard to hide it.

Early on in their lives they each had sworn an oath to never examine their DNA for relations. Splinter had believed that if this information were to be known that it would drive them all apart and Elizabeth didn't believe him.

Donnie wasn't the only one who could work his way around his machines and during the late hours when everyone had fallen asleep, she had run the forbidden test.

She had to.

The results were instantaneous and she had stared at them long and hard before erasing everything from the memory drive.

She had to know.

"You can choose to ignore this," Splinter stated, "But it will only grow." She rolled her eyes as she moved back to stand in front of the second entrance to watch for her brothers.

"It's nothing," she said as she tried to keep her voice as casual as possible.

"Is this about your brothers?" he asked with the hopes that it was the same issue from her previous troubled time. She had never spoken of what it was that had sent her down that path and Splinter feared that she never would. He knew that it was bound to return eventually and when it did it might be too much for them to handle.

"No," she replied, "it's about me but please, don't worry about it, sensei. I'll be alright." Her words did nothing to soothe him.

"The worry of a father is not something that can be wiped away," he whispered as he tapped his walking stick towards her, "Elizabeth?" She looked from the darkness of the tunnel in front of her to where the light faded into it on the ground. Biting her lip she shook her head as she tightened her grip on her weapon. She couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't' go back and fix what she had done.

"Dad," she whispered as she turned to him, "I-I broke a promise. I…" She couldn't bring herself to say it as his signature disappointed face appeared.

"What promise?" he questioned as he searched his mind for answers. There was the promise to never go to the surface. The promise that they would always be a family. Or maybe the promise that she would never return to that disheartened state, although he understood how difficult it would be.

"I…I ran our DNA, my brother's and mine. But I have a good reason for it!" she spoke quickly, "I…just…I've been getting these…feelings. Like, well, you know? Urges?" Her face had begun to burn as she looked down at the ground and began rubbing her arm.

"And I just needed to know that…if I had a chance with someone…that hopefully we weren't related so that in case we…got together…that things wouldn't turn…awkward?" Splinter's face was still furrowed in his disappointed stare as he struggled to process what she had just told him.

She awaited his response as the sound of mechanical marching began to grow in the silence. Tears had begun to fill her eyes as she bit the side of her mouth trying to keep them from running down her face.

"Please, forgive me," she whispered as the ground in front of her began to crack in coordination with escalating chomping noises. The tears dried quickly as her attention focused on the shiny metal heads that began to poke up from the ground like prairie dogs. She spun her weapon in her hands and pounded them back into the holes like a dangerous version of whack-a-mole.

Splinter didn't reply as he watched two more cracks form in the ground and raised his walking stick in preparation to defend his daughter. The crack grew into a hole and two machines crawled out of each. He took a swing and his blow landed on the cranium of the first while another managed to snag his robes.

Elizabeth flipped her weapon around and crushed its head before it could do anything else. More holes had begun appearing all around her and she continued to fight them as though it was just some big arcade game. She didn't hear the crumbling sounds that came from beneath her feet as she sliced another in two after it had snuck up behind her.

Splinter looked over, his rat ears picking up on the rumbling and he saw the floor beginning to weaken beneath her. But before he could shout at her to leap to safety the rumbling grew too loud thundering as the floor gave way and sucked her down with it.

He landed the final blow on the last metal menace before he rushed over and frantically looked down the dark hole for any sign of his daughter.

There was nothing.

Not even her cries of surprise were heard.

She slid down the hole like a giant slide and soon found herself rolling through another tunnel. She grunted as she tried to straighten herself out to take a look around fearing that she had been dropped into a pit of machines. Luckily, she was alone.

And in a different part of the sewers that she had never been to.

There was nothing but rubble around her that was exposed by a small light that came from one end of the tunnel. She rose to her feet grumbling as she picked up her weapon, that had slid down with her. Checking herself for injury she slid it back into its sheath and moved back to the hole in the wall that she had fallen out of.

"Master Splinter?" she shouted into it, hearing the echo bounce around its walls.

"Are you alright?" the response came.

"Just fine!" she answered before pausing to look around.

"I'm coming down," he warned.

"Wait!" she called, "There's a light down here! I'm going to check it out." She moved from the exit and began approaching the light trying to ignore the echo's of Splinters voice. The light grew as she neared and it led her to the large doorway.

She could hardly contain her excitement as she sprinted back to the hole in the wall.

"Master Splinter!" she shouted into the tunnel, "You've got to see this! Come on down!" The echoes of her voice bounced up to him as he stood staring into the darkness. He, of course, was a little hesitant at the idea of jumping in but he trusted that it wouldn't do him any harm.

He leaped into the hole and quickly regretted the decision when he hit the wall that had begun to curve under him. He continued to slide until he fell through the exit where his daughter was waiting to catch him. She seemed ill-prepared for his momentum and they both went to the ground in another heap.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he rose from the pile and began brushing himself off.

"I'm fine," he replied as he helped her to her feet, "now what is it that you wish to show me?" He saw her face light up as she turned and began leading him down the tunnel with a bounce to her step.

"I don't want to spoil it for you!" she couldn't resist saying, "But I think I may have found a solution to our housing problem." She moved faster than he as they neared the entrance to the chamber.

Splinter's eyes widened at the enormity of the place and at the beautiful architecture that it possessed. There was so much space and he could sense that this was capable of becoming, home.

"As you are my witness!" she giggled as she rushed over to various areas of the room, "I call dibs here! And here! And up there!" He couldn't help but smile as she buzzed around the room calling out ideas for what each area could contain.

"Donnie will love this area to work at! A-and here! We can put a nice little pond right here with a relaxing bridge over it!" She kept going on and on with an eagerness that could almost match Mikey's.

Splinter allowed her to continue as he saw portions of her vision and his own for this space. He looked at where each room was located and could imagine his own space for meditation and for relaxation. The weapons rack could stand there and this large flat area in the middle would be perfect for a sparring area.

It was Elizabeth that managed to draw him back to the reality of the situation.

"We probably should get back up there, they should be there by now," she stated as she moved to his side, "I can't clean this place up by myself, well I probably could, but I'm not going to. But just so we're clear, I call that room there for my studio and that one there for my room!"

"You have my word," he replied, "But now we must return. Come. I think I have an idea where we may be able to find a way back." He took another look at the large cavern that would become their home before turning his back and disappearing back into the darkness.

It didn't take them long to find a familiar part of the sewer and regain their direction. The giant slide had led them only a few tunnels north than where their original destination was.

"Do not think that our previous conversation is over," Splinter warned as the faded sound of marching metal echoed around them as they walked down another garbage filled channel.

"Which conversation?" Elizabeth whispered as she took a hold of a ladder to the passage above them.

"Your broken promise," Splinter reminded her as she looked away embarrassedly.

"I understand…Do you think they'll be there?" she asked as she began ascending the ladder. She silently hoped that the rest of the conversation could wait until another time. Right now, all she wanted to do was to go to sleep as she reached the top of the ladder and crawled out. She reached down to help him out as he replied.

"They will come."

* * *

**This chapter was based on the first episode 'things change' I seriously own no rights at all to the series even though I wish to heaven above that I did! I watched it like three times to get everything down but it was still rather tough. **

**There's no guarantee that this is at all written well... I warned you before...Third person is not my strong suit so some feedback would be really nice! please ^^**

**I hope that this still keeps you interested although it took me forever to get through this chapter and I didn't really have anyone to proof read it...So I hate to be saying that this is the first draft! And I should have learned from my first attempt at 'The Eye of Mahal' (my hobbit fic) that you never post the first draft...so I updated a few days ago and am posting the second! There's a few little things here and there that are different but it's pretty much the same.**

**But... stuff happens..**

**So anyways! Leave me a review with your thoughts and I will hopefully get to hear from you before the next chapter! **


	3. Chapter 2: A Better Mousetrap

**If you haven't re-read the first chapter I recommend you do that...I kinda changed a few things...**

* * *

The engine cut out to the silence that was there before their arrival and the lights went out to the darkness.

"Splinter!" Raphael yelled as he opened the door.

"Liz!"

"Master Splinter!"

"You're alright," Donatello exclaimed as he followed his three brothers the truck to where their family members stood where they all shared a large embrace.

"Where in New York city have you four been?" Liz chastised when the group hug released, "We've been worried sick waiting here for you…and what's with the car?" She paused for a moment as she felt Splinter's hand on her shoulder.

"We are glad to see you too," he said as he looked around at their shining faces.

"Master Splinter," Leo began, "So much has happened today!"

"Yes, yes," Splinter replied cutting him off, "There will be time to tell me all about it later but first, let's go home."

"We got no home," Raph stated, "Those monster's trashed our pad." Elizabeth and Splinter exchanged an excited glance as they began moving towards the large hole in the middle of the room.

"What's wrong Raph?" she sneered playfully, "Do you not trust us?" She couldn't hide the smile on her face as she bit her lip in excitement and giggled.

He felt his face flush.

"Follow us, my sons," Splinter replied, "Your sister has found a solution for that problem."

Without warning their sister eagerly leaped into the large hole in the room and made her brothers gasp with surprise. They weren't expecting Splinter to follow but he did a few moments after her. Being much more prepared for the ride down they both landed with grace as they waited for their family to join them.

Their cries of surprise echoed through the walls as one by one, they exited the slide and fell together in a heap on the ground.

"Wicked slide!" Mikey exclaimed as they began to rise to their feet.

"Come on!" Elizabeth ushered as she made her way back to the light up ahead, "We're almost there!"

"Liz?" Mikey called as they moved to catch up to them, "No offense, but this place doesn't look too great." She glanced back at him with narrow eyes with a small irritant growing in her mind.

"We aren't there yet, stupid," she replied as she turned back and continued to move towards the light.

"Look with your heart Michelangelo, and not your eyes," Splinter suggested as they neared the doorway to the large cavern. Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement as she fought to keep herself from running back into the chamber. She would finally have all the room she needed for her projects.

The four of her brothers gasped as they passed through the entryway and before anyone could move, Elizabeth had jetted off towards her claimed areas.

"I could really tune this place up," Donatello said thoughtfully as Michelangelo sprang into action. Leo and Raphael moved around the area with wide eyes and couldn't contain their excitement as their own visions for their new home formed in their minds.

"I claimed these!" Liz spat when Mikey came near, "I found this place so I got first dibbs!"

"But that's the best room!" Mikey whined, "Please! Please please please please!" She stood firm as Mikey knelt down like a little child with his fingers interlaced.

"No!" she replied sternly as Splinter called up to them.

"Gather here my children," he ordered bringing the rest of the family away from their exploring. With hesitation Mikey and Liz moved down from where they were and joined the family in the center of the cavern.

"You see my children, change is good," he stated as he gave them a smile.

"We couldn't agree more," Leonardo joined in.

"Good," Splinter replied as his smile faded away, "Now let's see you boys clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy!"

"But sensei!" they grumbled as Splinter gave her a small wink.

"No 'buts' my sons," he replied, "Your sister and I will return to our old home and begin gathering our things while you get started. I expect to see some improvement when we return." As expected all four of them gave their sister a dirty look before turning and beginning their work. Splinter was going to get to the bottom of what she had done. This may have been his only chance for a while to speak to her alone. He had given the issue as much meditation as he could while they were awaiting his son's return in the drainage junction but it just provided him with more questions than answers.

"But it's practically the middle of the night," Donnie muttered under his breath, "Couldn't this wait until morning?"

"Unless you want to sleep in all this," Leonardo replied as he kicked a piece of debris, "You better get started."

"I wouldn't mind," Mikey chimed in.

"Of course you wouldn't. Your side of the room was always filth!" Raph teased as he playfully punched his shoulder.

"It wouldn't have to be if you would have kept your stuff on the right side!"

"Wait," Leo interrupted as he noticed his sister glancing back at them from the doorway, "What's wrong with her?" Splinter had already disappeared into the tunnel but she remained there watching them.

"That time of the month?" Raph teased.

"We're reptiles," Donnie corrected, "She wouldn't have that issue. Our reproductive organs work differently than mammals."

"She looks sad," Mikey stated, "Something must have happened while we were gone."

"It's not a sad look," Leo replied, "It's more like…guilt."

Liz looked away quickly when she realized that her gaze had attracted them all and quickly followed after Splinter. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying but she had accidentally zoned out and stared in their direction as she anticipated the impending confession she would have to make to them. She silently prayed that she wouldn't have to and that Splinter would let this one thing slide but she did not only betray him but her brothers as well.

"Do you think they'll get anything done while we are away?" she asked Splinter to try and distract him.

"They might but I fear there might be more of a mess than when we left," he replied, "But we can worry about that at another time. I wish to speak more on this promise."

"I-," she tried starting but lost the words she had prepared to speak.

"Do you understand why I had insisted that your true heritages remain unknown?" he started out as they walked farther and farther from the light.

"You said that it would tear us apart," she replied.

"But do you understand how?" he asked.

"No." Splinter let out a small sigh for a moment as he rubbed his chin.

He had found a parenting teenager's book in the trash many years ago and he knew that this was going to be 'the talk'. He had almost skipped the chapter because he hoped that they all would simply remain siblings rather than a pair of lovers in the family. The book had said that this was just another stage in life that they would have to learn and that it would be better for them to hear it from a parent rather than firsthand. But the book only spoke of humans and how humans mated, he was sure the author of the book had no intention for it to be used for mutant turtles.

He remained silent as he planned his approach to the topic and they ended up being halfway to their old home before he began.

"There is only you," he said, "and your four brothers. If you were to…choose one then what of the others?" He let out a soft grunt as he shook his head. It sounded differently in his mind but it took a moment for her to understand what he meant.

"So you're saying that I shouldn't pursue this because it could end up hurting someone?"

"No," he replied before pausing, "Yes…Give me a moment." Liz felt a twinge of irritation as Splinter returned to his silence and pondered his response.

"Shouldn't I have a chance? Neither of us knows what could happen if I try," she insisted, "I'm seventeen years old Sensei and I am much more mature than my brothers, that's obvious. We don't know what could happen."

"And that's reason enough to not pursue it," Splinter warned, "This is a matter that cannot be redone."

"Don't you think I know that? Why do you think I ran the tests so that I know who to avoid and who to go for. Trust me Master Splinter; I'm pretty sure I've thought all of this through," she could feel her irritation growing as they neared their old home, "Please trust me. If you had the chance, wouldn't you want to find love?" He pondered her argument for a moment as they began climbing a ladder. The thought had honestly never crossed his mind since he had become their father.

She let her comments hang between them until they reached their old home where they began gathering various items to pacify them until the morning. They could only reach their entrance to the home since the other was completely blocked off. Scavenging had become second nature to her as she sifted through the rubble and managed to find old cans of food and a few pillows.

Splinter's thoughts were on the idea that their family could expand and grow. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea but he knew that it wasn't a bad thing.

"If this is what you wish, I suggest that you tread lightly," Splinter finally said after he gathered a few of his items, "I do not know what it is that you are feeling at this time. But I do not want to keep the possibility of a family for you in the future." Liz's face warmed quickly as a compromising image filled her head. It sent a chill down her shell as she put together what he was saying.

"Wait," she looked across the wreckage at him, "You mean…Really! I can?" She dropped the things she had in her arms and couldn't hold in her excitement. She began dancing around the room merrily as she laughed with relief and glee.

"On one condition," Splinter interjected making her stop in her tracks and turn to him, "You mustn't reveal the results of the test to anyone. It must remain a secret."

"I promise," she replied as she began recollecting the things that had dropped from her hands to the ground.

* * *

When they returned to the chamber they could see the four brothers huddled in a corner exhausted from their long day. To Liz it was an adorable sight as she placed the canned food on a small table that the boys had managed to craft and tried fluffing the pillows that she had found.

"Do not wake them," Splinter cautioned as he picked up one of their makeshift brooms and continued their work. Elizabeth nodded and quietly moved to Raphael's side. Mikey's head was resting on his stomach and was snoring obnoxiously as she reached carefully to lift her older brother's head.

Raph seemed to wake slightly and glanced over at his sister as she slipped a pillow underneath his head. He gave her a small smile and mouthed 'thank you' before sleep overcame him once more. She let her hand linger there for a little bit before moving over to where Leonardo and Donatello slept.

Donatello didn't stir as she repeated her act of kindness to him. Leo on the other hand had a similar reaction to Raphael.

"Liz…?" he whispered as his eyes moved from side to side, "Is it time to get up?"

"No," she hushed as she carefully slid the pillow under his head that was resting on his arm, "Go back to sleep Leo. We've got a busy day tomorrow."

"A-are you okay?" he asked while half asleep.

"I'm fine," she insisted as she gave him a small smile, "Just go back to sleep." He complied.

Liz joined Splinter in the clean up for a few hours before they too turned in and let sleep over take them.

* * *

"Somebody's been messing with my hard drive," Donnie stated as he pulled up the memory onto the screen. It was the fourth day of their clean up that he had finally been able to get his computer systems hooked up but he couldn't remember this particular file.

"What is it Don?" Raph asked as he passed by with a box of his electronic parts that had been scavenged from the old lair.

"Just this file," he replied as he typed a few things to attempt to recover it. It was partially corrupt and from what he could see it had been hiding out there for a few months.

"What about it?"

"It shouldn't be there," Donnie managed to pull what information he could up and was shocked at what it said, "This is a…" Raphael dropped the box onto the table and tried to make sense of the numbers that were on the screen.

"A what?" he asked as his eyes crossed over the small amount of text at the bottom.

_DNA matches with sample 1: …._

_Sample 2: NO MATCH_

_Sample 3: NO MATCH_

_DNA matches with sample 4: ….._

"It's DNA test results!" Donnie exclaimed as he instantly began running the file through different programs to see if he could recover what had been lost, "And from what I can tell. The DNA samples were mutated reptile."

"Turtle?" Raphael speculated as more pieces of the results began to appear.

"Yeah," Donnie confirmed, "obviously these DNA samples were from us." He leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen for a moment.

Raphael paused, "Whose samples were whose?"

"I can't seem to recover it, the file is too corrupt," Donnie replied, "But I know what they were being compared to."

"What?" Raph took a glance around the room for a moment before leaning in to hear Donnie whisper.

"A female mutated turtle's."

"Wait, wait, wait," Raph said as he backed away in shock, "You mean someone was comparing all of our DNA to see if any of us were related to Liz?"

"That's what it looks like," Donnie replied, "but Splinter forbid us from anything like this. Mikey isn't smart enough to find his way into a program like this and he would have no idea how to hide it as well as it was." He did have a point, Mikey barely understood how to access the internet and it was difficult enough for him to delete his web history. Something like this was eons past his capabilities.

"Do you think it was Leo?"

"Possibly, but Leo would never disobey Splinter unless there was a good reason for it and I see no real reason for this to have been run. Maybe we should tell Splinter."

"No," Raph said quickly, "Just see if you can salvage that file any more if you can. If we let anyone know that we've discovered this they might come back and try to erase it permanently." He stole a glance at Elizabeth who sat beside their recovered boom box with a sketch pad in her hands. She looked as though she was in conflict with herself, something that happened often when she was drawing yet somehow she felt his gaze and looked up at him.

"You're just as eager to know as I am," Donnie stated drawing Raphael's attention, "About Liz."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Raph recanted as he began unloading the box of electronic parts. He felt his face begin to burn slightly.

"Oh come on Raph," he replied with a sneer, "We're both men here. You're dying to know if you're related."

"Yeah?" Raphael snorted, "And if you're so eager why haven't you already run the tests?"

"Because we all made a promise and I was just waiting for someone else to break so I wouldn't get in trouble," Donnie answered as he let a smile reveal itself, "So according to this two of us are viable candidates and the other two aren't, it's intriguing isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess so," Raph said quietly as he looked back at his sister who had gone back to her picture.

"I guess I could just run the tests again," Donnie speculated as he rubbed his chin, "Or just wait to see how this plays out. Someone wanted this information for one reason or another and eventually we will find out." He typed a few more keys in attempt to save more of the file but he only managed to get a letter or two from another sentence.

"Raph!" Leo called from across the chamber, "work isn't over yet!" Both Donnie and Raphael looked over to see him continuing to unload their recent recon mission.

"If you get anything more from that," Raph said before he moved to help, "Let me know."

"Will do," Don mumbled as he turned back to the screen and tried typing in another sequence.

* * *

"Hey Liz! Would you toss me the torch?" Don called down from his position in the air. He felt the harness adjust a little as his sister reached over to the table where his tools were located. She grabbed onto the handle of it and then carefully lowered him enough to hand it to him. There was a hard grunt from Mikey as he assembled another television to their wall of entertainment.

"What's wrong Mikey?" Don called down to him, "Don't know what to watch?" He leaned in to solder the last touches to his repairs as Liz readjusted the line carefully.

"I need more power, captain," Mikey replied in a mocking voice as he reached for an extension cord.

"No you don't," Liz chanted as she watched Don turn the blowtorch off and give her the sign to bring him down, "You're going to knock out the power if you get anymore!"

"No I won't! The turtle cave must be set for maximum entertainment potential," Mikey countered as he plugged the cord in. The lights flickered for a moment before returning to normal as Donatello and Elizabeth exchanged glances.

"Whatever," she muttered as she began disassembling her harness. She folded it over her arm and walked over to a box to put it back. There was a bright flash of light that came from their 'entertainment corner' that took her by surprise. It turned off as quickly as it came on and she could hear a low moan coming from her youngest brother.

"Turtle cave?" Donatello questioned, "That's so lame." Liz couldn't help but agree as she looked over her shoulder at them standing in front of the wall of televisions.

"The Shell-ter?"

"Nah, how about the Sewer of Solitude?"

"Terrapin station?"

"Splinter's School of Gifted Reptiles?"

"Do you guys have no original idea in your head?" she stated as she lifted a rouge box of DVD's to take to where they stood, "It's gotta be the Castle von Shell!" Donnie let out a chuckle as Splinter began clearing his throat.

"We shall call this place, home," he stated as he rose to his feet from their fourth hand sofa.

"Hmm, catchy," Mikey agreed as he made a shrugging gesture.

"Now what is keeping Leonardo and Raphael?"

"They're at the old lair," Donnie replied as he moved from the entertainment corner back to his table of machine parts.

"Yeah, getting the last of our stuff," Mikey added, "They should be back soon."

"With how well the sewer slider is performing, they should be back any minute." Donnie picked up a leg of a deceased foe.

"Well hopefully anyway," Liz pitched in as she began sliding the DVD's onto a shelf beside the wall of TV's. There weren't many so it was easy for her to alphabetize them before she joined Donatello with his reconstruction of one of the metal menaces.

"Even with them deactivated," Splinter began as he watched his son pick up the head, "That thing still creeps me out, Donatello."

"State of the art robotics, sensei," Elizabeth stated as she took the head from her brother, "This stuff is the best of the best even though it's disturbing and as scary as it is it looks like a little dinosaur."

"It's brilliantly crafted," Donnie stated, "I've just gotta find out how it works."

There was a rumbling that came from one of their entrances that made the four of them look over at where it was coming from. The one headlight from the sewer slider shone through first before the rest of it appeared with Raphael and Leonardo riding inside of it with the rest of their stuff.

"About time!" Liz called as it soared through the air and landed on the opposite side of the chamber, "Did you find my other pad?" Leonardo jumped out of the back with a frown on his face.

"Sorry Liz," he shrugged as he picked up a box of items to carry away.

"Alright, don't worry about it," she muttered as she began to help Raph unload what remained.

"What pad was it?" he asked as she began untying one of their straps.

"It was the red one with the bent up cover," she replied, "Nothing important."

"Why are you so upset then?" She handed him the TCRI canister that once held the green ooze that had given them this life.

"I just wanted it back; it still had some empty pages." She tried blowing off the question as she picked up a few of her recovered things and headed back to her room. It was actually the home of a very important sketch that she had been working on. It was a family portrait that she had been drawing in secret to present to them eventually but now it was gone, possibly forever. Back to square one.

She exited her room to see that Mikey had turned the wall of televisions on and that the five of them were watching it with intent. She quickly moved to where they stood to see a dorky looking scientist bragging about his accomplishments. Her eyes drifted to another object on the screen that was covered by a gray sheet that barely showed any silhouette of what was underneath it.

"For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman, have designed the solution to the city's ever growing rat problem! I give you the ultimate expression of rodent termination technology: the Stocktronic Mouser!" she heard the man on the screen present as he pulled the sheet from whatever was on the platform.

All of them gasped with shock as their mechanical home wrecker appeared on the television. It seemed to stare at them with its beady eye as the camera panned over it.

"The famous Baxter Stockman is trying to pass these killer robots off as a good thing?" Donnie exclaimed as he held up the head of the mouser that had been in his hand the whole time.

Raphael let out a loud grunt of frustration as he pulled a sai from his belt and punched through one of the flat screens.

"Was that necessary, Raph?" Liz snapped as glass and plastic fell to the ground. The screen gurgled and sparks flew from it as it came loose from its place on the wall.

"I say we head up top and kick some serious shell!" Raph said boldly as Splinter moved quickly and swiftly struck him on the top of the head.

"No! Absolutely not!" he snapped as Raph moaned at the headache that appeared, "You're last journey to the surface was a disaster! You cannot risk being seen by more humans." Her bothers moaned in unison as they looked around at one another. They hadn't been seen by a lot of people and besides who would believe them?

"You mean they can't risk it," Liz mumbled as she looked back at the television where the gruesome fate of lab rats was being portrayed as a demonstration of the mousers 'effectiveness'.

* * *

Splinter stood in the center of his children as they each tensed for attack. He eyed them cautiously being careful to listen while also watch.

Donatello was first again as he lunged at his master. With two easy blocks he was pushed away.

"Do not lean with your shoulder, Donatello," Splinter advised as Leo leaped into the air behind him. Splinter moved quickly and with one motion threw the eldest to the ground. He skidded a few feet backwards on his shell.

"Faster on your counter attack, Leonardo." Foolishly the youngest turtle rushed forward clumsily and with an effortless swipe, he found himself flipping through the air and landing hard onto his back.

"Mind your footwork, Michelangelo," Splinter managed to say before he heard his second oldest approaching behind him. With his walking stick he managed to disarm his son and push him against one of the pillars. He could see into his eyes that he wasn't there, his mind was somewhere far from this.

"You must learn to focus your attacks," he warned as he lowered his arms. Raph brushed by him angrily as he skillfully picked one of his sais from the ground.

"Yeah I'd like to focus my attacks on that Stockman guy! Why can't we just go up topside and show him a little mean and green?" He turned to look at Splinter before picking up the second.

"Because I forbid it!"

Liz stood off a ways grateful that Splinter had overlooked her as he walked back to his room. She waited a moment before she walked over to the weapons rack to put her naginata back where it belonged.

"Well Raph," Donnie spoke, "You could come over here and help me with these mouser parts. If I could just get one working, we might be able to trace it back to its source." She saw Raph inwardly consider the idea as he walked over.

They began speaking to one another in hushed tones as she gathered her sketch pad and pencils from where she had left them. She moved over to her usual spot and sat down, flipping the pages of the pad as she went. It landed on a half finished picture of her oldest brother as he sat in meditation. He did it rather often which made him a viable candidate for what she needed.

"I managed to recover more of that file," she heard Donnie reply to something that Raph had said, "I can't quite determine who had run it yet but I've been able to figure out more about the two that were partial matches. One is a biological brother and the other is like a second or third cousin from what I could see." Liz's heart suddenly stopped as she glanced over at them as calmly as she could manage. She felt chills running through her body as Raphael nodded.

"Did you find out who is who?" Donnie shook his head.

"No, I'm still trying to figure it out. It'll take me a few more days if I can keep working on it."

"Well," Raph replied in his normal voice, "I'm turning in for the night." He mockingly stretched his arms and forced a yawn as he returned the look Elizabeth was giving him. Warily of his words she gave him a half smile before looking back down at her sketch pad. He watched her for a few seconds more, not wanting to look away until he saw Leo walk over to gaze at her picture.

"What are you drawing?" Liz heard from over her shoulder. Without thinking she quickly moved the pad close to her chest to hide the page she was currently working on.

"Nothing," she replied as she looked up at Leonardo that happened to be watching over her shoulder.

"That looked like something," he teased, "Can I see?"

"No," she replied simply as she crossed her arms over the pad. Her face felt warm as she looked down from his gaze to her knees that were pulled up on the bench. What would he think if he saw that it was him? Was it good enough? Would he want to keep it? She hated when her brothers asked to keep her pictures. They were almost like a part of her, the part that she reserved for herself.

"Why not?" he whined playfully as he gave her shoulder a little nudge, "Just a peek? Please?" She couldn't hide a smile as she stated the same response.

"No," she quickly folded the cover back over and turned to place her feet on the ground, "I'm going to turn in too." It was no secret that her brothers would find some way to look at her sketches. Whether she wasn't paying attention or that maybe she had fallen asleep they would steal glances or the pad entirely. Of course, it irritated her whenever they asked about certain pictures but she was fine with it as long as they didn't question anything.

That's what got her into trouble two years ago, someone had blabbed to Splinter about her dark images which led to that whole mess.

"Since when do you and Raph turn in so early?" Leo asked as he watched her retreating back. Donnie offered a shrug while Mikey was too absorbed in a movie to offer his input.

* * *

Elizabeth stared up at her ceiling as she counted the seconds going by in her head.

Fifty-five…fifty-six…fifty-seven…fifty-eight…fifty-nine…Midnight.

She sat up from her cot and listened for anything that would show that any of her family members were awake. Moving as quietly as she could she stood from her bed and tip-toed her way to her door. It creaked as she peaked out into the chamber.

It looked empty in the darkness but she cautiously slid out of her room and stuck to the shadows with Donnie's tech station in sight. Halfway there she stopped as the sounds of another person in the room came to her attention.

She glanced around the column she had ducked behind and could see the silhouette of Raphael moving towards the exit. He didn't seem to have seen her and she continued to wait until he disappeared through the archway.

She moved again with a faster pace until she found herself in Don's comfortable computer chair.

"There it goes!" she heard Donnie's voice call as she froze. The mechanical whirring began again as she turned her head and saw the shiny surface of her brother's most recent project running Raphael's path. It didn't take long for her to then see her two younger brothers running after it and also disappearing through the exit.

She didn't waste any time as she turned the computer on and began to frantically search for the file that Donnie spoke of. She knew what it was and she cursed herself for being so careless. This was going to be the last time she ever underestimated Donatello's technical abilities.

Time passed and firewall after firewall she encountered as she fought to find the blasted file. She was pretty sure that Donnie had locked this thing up tight; frustrated she leaned back for a moment and began popping her fingers as she stared at the screen.

"Come on Don," she hissed as she continued working, "It's not that top secret." A realization popped into her head as she bit her lip in thought. She bounced out of the programming and returned to the desktop where she delved into an obvious file that had been tucked away in the corner of the screen.

She stared at what its contents were with confusion.

_Diary1, Diary2, Diary3…._

Donnie wrote a diary?

She clicked one at random and read the narration of their last home's demise.

"Seriously Don?" she muttered as she read his account of what had happened to them on the surface and about halfway through she closed the window and continued her search for the file.

It had to be here.

She began to hack into the computer from this point, fighting the firewalls and the Trojan horses that had been inserted to block her path. Her temper was beginning to become agitated as she fought and fought the programs and spyware traps that she continually fell into. And then suddenly there was a small icon appearing on the side of the screen. It flashed like a little beacon and took her by surprise. Intrigued at what this little file was doing stuck in the spiders web of the computer's programming she clicked on it.

And there it was.

She inwardly sighed with relief as the familiar text and results appeared but were surprised at how much he had managed to recover. He was closer than he had told Raphael. It showed who her biological brother was, Michelangelo and it was so close to revealing that Donatello was her cousin. The other two, by process of elimination, had no relation. Her memories of discovering the information came flooding back along with the guilt of having disobeyed.

It was too late for her but she prayed she could spare the rest of her siblings the fate she had bestowed upon herself and now Donnie.

Now that she had found the file she sat back and struggled to figure out what to do with it. She couldn't just delete it again; Donnie would find it as easily as he had done before. Her second option was to overwrite it, what she should have done in the first place.

She pulled the file back into its program and began to insert new information to replace the results. It wasn't easy but she had managed to pull together enough fake DNA sequences to replace her brothers and her own. Soon enough it showed that the DNA test had been for mutated dandelions and bananas.

Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle at her handiwork when she decided to add a small message at the bottom.

'Nice try Don.'

She then proceeded to save the file and then deleted it in the same manner as she had done before when a soft roar of voices could be heard coming from their entrance. Moving as swiftly as she could she rushed over to it and saw all four of her brothers approaching.

"Where have you been!" she called down the tunnel, "I've been worried sick!" It was painfully obvious where they had been and it irritated her that they didn't even think that she would have wanted to go but she was grateful for the time alone.

"It's a long story," one of them said as they came into the light, with a human woman in Mikey's arms.

* * *

**Alright so this one is like super super super long...Like the longest chapter I have ever written...in my life! **

**And for some reason I keep imagining these guys as though they were from the 2014 movie...because I thought they were pretty awesome looking...except for Mikey, he's got a pretty fat head...**

**But anyways..I'm going to keep this short so I hope you like this and that you'll leave me a review!**


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